Air pistol



March 19, 1940. w Foss 2,194,142

AIR PISTOL Filed July 22. 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 19, 1940. w, Foss 2,194,142

AIR PISTOL Filed July 22. 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ..................,Aill1||||"NIU" l5 Fig: l0

Wwf/m Paw,

W. FOSS AIR. PISTOL March 19, 1940.

Filed .my 22, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 19, 1940 UNITED sg'rAfrEsv alecm j f Am ns'rol.

wilhelm rm, zene-nehm, rGenmmy Application my 2z, 1937, semi No. 1755.069

m Germany .my 1s, 193s somma.

'I'he invention relates to air pistols of the-type in which the barrel is disposed in front-of the air-cylinder, which contains a spring-actuated piston for generating compressed air, and the 5 piston is connected with the barrel by av cooking lever and is actuated by swingingk the barrel journalled on the air cylinderl or frame of the pistol, so that the spring is tensed. In well known air pistols of this type the cocking lever lay partly l below the barrel and the air cylinder. This position made the arrangement of. the `trigger mechansm dimcult and gave the grip an unfavorable position and also the weight of the weapon was poorly distributed.

l According to the present invention the air pistol is provided with a barrel disposed in front of the air cylinder and oscillatably mounted, and a spring-actuated piston sli'dable -in the air cylinder, and a vcooking lever pivoted to the barrel, acting onthe piston and disposed above the air cylinder. There is thus space below the air cylinder for the trigger mechanism and the grip, so that the pistol is short and low and withproper distribution ofthe weight, whereby it is possible to shoot accurately without tiring the hand;

In this arrangement of the cooking lever above the air cylinder which, perse, is Well known with air pistols having the barrel above the air cylinder, it isnecessary to divert the air flow generated by the Lpiston, which air passes under pressure into the barrel and drives the'ball therethrough. The air first forced rearwardly vinto the air cylinder must vary its direction in order to enter the barrel from behind and be able to discharge forwardly through the bore toward the mouth. The resulting pressure loss reduces the.

V4.5, By way of example, two embodiments of ther invention are illustrated in the accompanying Y drawings in which Figures 1 to 3` are side views, partly in section, of the pistol with the air piston and the driving sleeve in .different positions; Figs.

Ar 4 to 8 are detail views of the pawl and catch rod of the valve body and show them in various positionswhile engaging and releasing each other; Fig. 9 is a top view of the driving sleeve; Fig. 10 is a rear view of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a vertical u longitudinal sectiori, partly in elevation, of the.

forked portion 2 of the air cylinder 3.

Y of the driving member.

(Cl. 12b-15) second modification; and Fig. 12 vis arear view` of Fig. 11 with the cap omitted. v y

Referring tothe drawings, in all gures I designates the barrel of the pistol, which is `movably arranged on a pin I inserted in thefront 5 T0 the rear portion of the barrel above the vbore thereof the cooking lever 5 is articulated by means of a pin 5.. At its rear end the cooking lever 5 is provided with arms 1'having slots which engage 10 the pin 8 inserted in the driving sleeve 9. The driving sleeve 9 cooperates with .the air piston I0 with its packing and the rod I I with itsplate I2. Between the air piston I0 and the hollow` cylindrlcal driving sleeve 9 the piston spring I3 is ar- 15 ranged and supported by an annular shoulder I4 Behind the annular shoulder of the driving member a projection I5 Ahaving flattened sides is engaged by the arms 1 of the cooking lever and passed thru by the pin 2U v`I9 over which the plate I2 of thev catch rod II of the air piston passes. The pawl I6 is subjected to the actionr of a spring disposed on the pin 20 and having` two sides 2| and 22 which, respec- 30 tively, abut against the driving sleeve 9 and the pawl I6. In this way the pawl I6 tends to swing about the bearing pin 8 in clockwise direction and is held thereon.

The pawl ISis further fitted with an arm 23 35 inserted in a slot of the driving sleeve corresponding to its width, and is movable in theslot. 'I'he arm'23 has a perforation 24.

Below the air cylinder 3 the trigger mechanism disposed in the grip v25 is arranged and com- 40 prises the trigger 21 which can swing about a pin 2liv and is flexibly connected with the sear 29` by means of a pin 28 in the trigger 21 and a recess 28a in the sear. The sear 29 slides on a pin 30 in the frame 25 and has a nose 32 passing 45 through a slot 3|. When the trigger 21 is pulled, the pin 28`is displaced in the slotted recess 28a untilit strikes the right-hand end of the slot and drives and displaces the sear 29 controlled by the spring 33 by causing it to slide on the pin 50 3|) farther to theright until the nose 32 passes under theopening 24 of the arm 23 ofthe pawl I5. When the pistol is cocked, a pressure is transmitted to the pawl I6 by means of the plate I2 and the nose I9 owing to the adjacent inclined 55 faces and by the strong piston spring I3, which tends to move the pawl counter-clockwise. This occurs, however, also when the nose 32 of the sear 29 passes under the perforation 24 of the arm 23 which thus enters through the slot 3l the air cylinder 3, whereby the plate I2 of the air piston is released by the nose I9 of the projection I8 of the pawl I6 with the result that the valve body springs forward. The air in front of air piston I is forced through the channel 34 into the bore without changing its direction. Then the spring 22 swings back the pawl I8, so that the nose 32 of the sear 29 is released and, after disengagement of the trigger, the sear 29 can return by means of the spring 33 to its initial position to the left which is limited by the pin 39.

Fig. 1 clearly shows that the pressure of the very strong piston spring I3 cannot act directly on the trigger which would otherwise be diicult to work. The pressure is rather divided into two components at the nose I9, and the larger component acts in horizontal direction and the lsmaller one in vertical direction. The latter component tends to turn the pawl I6 anticlockwise and thus causes the pawl to exert some pressure upon, or offer resistance to, the nose 32 of the sear 29 with its arm 23, but this resistance is diminished in proportion to the leverage, so that the type of trigger mechanism provided by the invention insures small trigger resistance and thus safe shooting,

During cooking the driving sleeve 9 of the valve is drawn forward by the bending of the barrel and the tensioning of the piston spring I 3 from the position shown in Fig. l until the nose I9 reaches the plate I2. During farther advance of the driving sleeve 9 the pawl I6 is pressed back against the pressure of the spring member 22 so as to slide over the pin 8. Simultaneously, a swinging motion occurs until the plate I2 can slide over the nose I9, as indicated in Fig. .5. At still farther advance of the driving sleeve 9 the plate I2 is caught by the pawl I6 while the latter is returning to its original position, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 6. When the barrel tilts back, the air piston in the air cylinder is taken back by the driving sleeve. In the end position the arm 23 is above the slot 3| in the air cylinder 3 and the front end thereof is supported by the nose 32 of the sear 29, as shown in Fig. 7. When the trigger 21 is now drawn back, the nose 32 will pass under the opening 24 in the arm 23, so that the pawl I6 can yield to the pressure of the plate I2 and swing, whereby the nose 32 is caused to enter the opening 24 and the plate I2 of the air piston is released to permit the spring I3 to throw the air piston forward. 'I'he air in front of the air piston I0 is forced through the channel 24 into the bore without altering its direction.

In the construction shown in Figs. 11 and 12 the pawl I6 is not displaceably but only turnably arranged on the pin 8 and is subjected to the pressure of the spring 40 which is disposed in the driving sleeve. During the cocking operation the pawl i B is rotatably moved while the air piston I2 of the valve slips over the nose I9 of the pawl. Owing to spring pressure, the nose I9 comes up again after the plate I2 and holds the air piston. When the barrel is tilted back, the pawl I6 by means of the driving sleeve 9 pushes therefore the air piston into the position shown in Fig. 11. The air piston is released by the return motion of the trigger 21 into the dash and dot position during which motion the trigger is swung about the pin 26. The link 4I between the trigger 21 and the sear29 is'articulated to the pins 29 and 42, and the senr 29 is rotatably disposed on the stationary pin 48. When the trigger 21' is moved about the pin 29, the intermediate joint 4| turns the sear 29 about the pin 43. After a short motion the rounded head 44 of the sear 29 strikes the face'45 of the pawl I6. 'I'he trigger has then to overcome the additional pressure of the spring 40, and this transition is felt as pressure point. At further motion of the trigger the head 44 of the sear 29 begins to turn the pawl I9 about the pin 8 until the nose I9 releases the plate I2. the sear 29 passing during this operation through a slot 46 in the cylinder 3.

To provide for a lighter or more diiiicult release of the shot the driving sleeve 9 contains a regulating screw 48 which is accessible from without through a perforation 41 in the cooking lever and in the cylinder. The more the screw 49 is screwed in, the smaller is the extent to which the nose I9 can engage behind the catch plate I2 and the sooner will the air piston be released during actuation of the trigger. AWhen released,

Ithe air piston moves into the position designated by dots and dashes.

During the cooking operation the barrel is tilted, so that the cooking lever 5 by means of its arms 1 draws the driving sleeve 9 to the front until the plate I2 snaps into position behind the Y nose I9 of the pawl I6.

I claim:

1. An air pistol comprising a grip portion, a cylinder above said grip portion, a barrel pivoted at the vfront end of said cylinder, air compressing means in said cylinder, said means including a piston, catch means on said piston, a member to the rear of said piston, a spring engaged between said member and piston and compressible therebetween, a. detent on said member engageable with said catch means, said piston and member being slidable in said cylinder, connecting means attached to said barrel and said member for sliding said member forwardly to compress said spring and to engage said detent with said catch means when said barrel is pivoted' downwardly and for sliding said member and piston rearwardly in said cylinder when said barrel is pivoted back to a firing position, and trigger means for releasing said piston from said detent.

2. An air pistol as claimedin claim l, said connecting means comprising a lever attached to said barrel behind the pivot point thereof, said lever extending from said barrel to said member above said cylinder.

3. An air pistol as claimed in claim 1, said catch means comprising a rod extending rearwardly from said piston, a plate at the rear end of said rod, the front of said plate having an inclined surface, a pivot mounted across said member, a portion of said detent having a downward and rearwardly extending slot therein, said pivot being engaged by said slotted portion, a second spring attached to said member and engageable With the rear end of said detent, and a nose on said detent in front of said portion, said nose being engageablewith said inclined surface, said cylinder being adapted and arranged to allow a limited vertical movement against the action of said second spring of the rear portion of said detent when said member is in the forward portion of said cylinder, and to allow vertical movement controlled'by said trigger means when said member is at the rear of said piston.

WILHELM FOSS. 

